Midterm 1 - Divine Myths Flashcards
Who were the first gods to come out of chaos? (and name meanings)
- Gaia (great mother)
- Tartaros (place underneath earth.)
- Eros (love, sexual love)
Who were Gaia’s first children. How did she conceive them?
- Ouranos (sky)
- Pontos (sea)
- She came out of chaos before Eros, therefore she did not need to mate before she created her two children, and all of creation
Who were the children of Gaia and Ouranos? (the groups, and their physical descriptions)
- 12 titans (humanoids, eldest)
- 3 Cyclopes (single eyed humanoids)
- 3 Hecatonchires (100 hands, 50 from each shoulder)
Who were the titan’s names (that we need to know)?
- Oceanos (ocean)
- Hyperion (one who goes above [sun])
- Themis (Traditional law)
- Mnemosyne (memory)
- Rheia (becomes new earth mother)
- Kronos
Euxine
Black sea
Who was Oceanos’ wife? Who were their children? What were they?
- Tethys
- 3000 sons (rivers flowing into mediterranean)
- 3000 daughters (female spirits of those rivers [called Oceanids])
Who was Hyperion’s wife? Who were their children? What were they (general)?
- Helios (sun [displaces father])
- Selene (moon)
- Eos (dawn)
What was Helios’ epithet? What did he do?
- epithet: he who sees and hears all things
- rides a chariot, east to west, bringing the dawn.
Who was Tithonos? What happened to him? What did he become an aetiological myth for?
- Prince of Troy
- Eos’ favourite lover
- Eos asks Zeus to give him immortality, but forgets to ask for eternal youth
- Eos locks Tithonos in a room, since she can’t stand his sight
- Because of the noises he made in the room, he became associated as being the first cicada
What does Ouranos do to his children, and why?
- since he is afraid of his children (namely, cyclopes and hecatonchires), he hides them away in Tartaros.
What is Gaia’s response to Ouranos hiding her children?
- Gaia, being a loving mother, asks the titans to punish their father.
- Kronos is the only taker, since he too hated his father. - Gaia gives him a sickle, and he castrates his father, deposing him as the new sky god.
What creatures arise from Ouranos’s castration? Who are they?
- Erinyes (furies; they find and kill kin-killers; they take on the gender of who they kill)
- Gigantes (giants; all male and humanoids, but they have snake tales)
- Nymphs of the Ashtrees (quasi-immortal, they live as long as the tree they are associated with lives)
- Aphrodite (Aphros = foam; cam from the foam mixed with blood; displaces Eros)
Who were the children of Gaia and Pontos? (the groups, and their physical descriptions)
- many monsters
- Nereus
Who were Nereus’ children?
- 50 daughters (Nereids)
- Amphitrite (marries Poseidon)
- Thetis (mother of Achilles)
Aetiological
the first story/explanation of something (no repetition)
Archetype
the first of something that is repeated
Who did Kronos marry? Who are their children?
- Hestia
- Hera
- Demeter
- Hades
- Poseidon
- Zeus (last born)
What archetype do Kronos and Rheia repeat?
The sacred marriage between Earth and Sky.
What does Kronos do to his children, and why?
- Gaia made a prophecy that one of his children would overthrow Kronos.
- Out of fear, Kronos swallowed his children (Zeus has not yet been born)
What does Gaia tell Rheia to do when she finds out she is pregnant with Zeus? What happens (utill the point the prophecy is fulfilled)?
- Gaia tells Rheia to escape to Crete to give birth (he is the one who will fulfill the prophecy)
- Rheia then hides him in a cave
- Kronos shows up, demanding the baby.
- Gaia gives Kronos a stone instead, which he swallows.
- Gaia later gives him a potion that makes Kronos vomit up all his children, including the rock
- The prophecy is fulfilled
What historic even does the birth of Zeus signify?
- Indo-Europeans came to mainland Greece from Crete, and saw how the mainlanders worshipped Earth goddesses.
- they brought their worship of Zeus with them, and Zeus became a consort to Earth goddesses.
What is the first thing Zeus does after his overthrowal? What does he gain?
- He releases the Cyclopes from Tartaros.
- In their joy, they reward Zeus with thunder, lightning, and bright flashes of light.
What are the theories about how Zeus creates his thunderbolts?
- Cyclopes were absorbed into Zeus (part of him)
- Cyclopes are under Mt. Etna, Sicily (highly eruptive), where they forge Zeus’ thunderbolts.
Who is Zeus’ opponent in the Titanomachy?
Kronos, who raised the challenge to Zeus.
Who are the combatants, and who is on who’s side?
- Kronos:
- 10 titans
- Atlas (son of Iapetos)
- Zeus:
- Themis (titan)
- Styx (oceanid)
- Prometheus and
Epimetheus (sons of
Iapetos) - Hecatonchires (by Gaia’s
recommendation)`
How long does Appolodorus claim the battle lasted, and what does he mean? What are the TItan’s and Atals’ punishment?
- 10 years, metaphor for a very long time.
- Titans: Tartaros, where the Hechatonchires become guards.
- Atlas: holding up the heavens.
Who is Zeus’ opponent in the Typhonomachy? Who is he and what does he look like? Who sent him and why? What would happen if Zeus did not notice him?
- Typhoios
- Son of Gaia and Tartaros
- 100 snake heads that make strange sounds. Eyes that flash fire.
- Gaia sent him as a test.
- Typhoios would have became ruler of the cosmos.
What does the Typhonomachy become an archetype for?
The first dragonslaying myth.
What is Typhoios thought to cause?
Cyclones, hurricanes, and strange winds.
What is the Gigantomachy, and who causes it. Why?
- Gigantes climb up Olympus and fight the gods with natural objects (boulders, trees, etc.)
- Gaia sent them as a test.
What happens during the battle? What does Gaia prophecies? What happens?
- The battle is a stalemate
- Gaia prophecies that in order to win, the gods must recruit Heracles.
- The gods win.
What does the gigantomachy become an allegory for?
A description of natural phenomena, such as earth quakes.
What does Gaia say after the Gigantomachy?
She recommends the gods appoint Zeus and chief god/king. He becomes the ruler of the Cosmos.
Prometheus, Epimetheus and Pandora (x)
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